Automatic tightening cot or the like



M. R. MARSTON AUTOMATIC TVIGHTENING COT ORVTHE LIKE June- 16, 1925.1,542,260

Filed May l2. 1924 Patented June 16, 1.925.

- g 1,542,2ee

MARVIN fR. "MABSTON, lOE LONG'EA'GH, CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC TIGHTENING com on Tm: LIKE.

appear-immediata.12,1924. Sena ira-712,74?.

and 7useful ,'.iIlnprovements in. Automatic `Tightening Cots'orthe-like, ofwhich the ,following is a detailed `specificati-on. Y

This invention may be Said to relate to Vsuchthings,asfcots andthe like;,although it will be E apparent `from a consideration 0f f the followingspeeiieation .tl-iatthexiventon is'not necessarily limited initsapplieation specicallyg to cots f-but, kmay be applied` to' any other.Similar fdevicewherejit isdesired `to tightlygstretclna: 4Can-vas lor'other flexible ,fsheet, 'or whereY itv is. Vdesired to causeany aveighton.the flexible sheet, It maybe stated that ta genera-l object; vof the,invetion iis; to a provide 1a simple andeeffective device for thepurpose of automaticallystretchsnclra flexible Sheet and maintaining itinra taut ,condition ones: appledanor'e ,Spe ciiically to a cot orthe,i1l ike,anjObjectof the invention may be stated to be to provide a,device; ofA simple-;and effective nature that will automatically causethe cot to be maintained tightly stretched, and a device that may beeasily set up and also easily disassembled and-folded Vinto smallcompass. Other objects and corresponding accom plishments of theinvention will be understood from the following detailed specilication.I also show detail improven'ients in the mechanism of the device itselfand all these things will be bestunderstood from the followingspecification wherein I describe typical and preferred forms of deviceembodying the invention, and for this purpose I refer to theaccompanying drawings in which :-k Y

Fig. l is a perspective illustrating my improved device used as a cot;

Fig. 2`is an enlargedv perspective showing the details of thehingeconnection between a pair'of the supporting legs, and e Fig. 3 is asimilar perspective showing a modified form of such hinge arrangement.

e In the drawings I illustrate a device hav-` ing two pairs of legs l0,the legs of each pair being hinged together at their tops at.

l1. In a'preferred structure as shown in Figs. l and 2, the upper endsofl legs IO slidably and removably lit into sockets 12,

and the hinge halves 18 are formed integrally with these sockets, aswill be fully unw derstoodfrom inspection of the drawings. .These hingemembers are `also lso 4formed `and so disposed withrelation lto thesockets that by folding the legs upwardly they and the sockets may befoldedto position close together. Each legv assemblymay thusbe foldedfor transportation, or, liffdesireld,

.the hiiliges and,sockets, may bepfolded Vand the-legs' -removedfromthem, thus making a In Figs. I and f somewhat -shorter bundle. 2 I showlegs lOas .being cylindrical;y but .they may be of any suitableconfiguration.

For instance, as shown in 3 atlOa the legs may rbe square and tit intosquare sockets .122; and, the' `Qhinge 11D may be kof :the structureshowninFig. 3. rvIn this case the hinge is .so arranged .with relationto the sockets thatvthe socketsare offset from `each other as appears inthedrawings so 1thatthe Vsockets, .andV legs may be folded together. Y L

The hinge pin is provided with two hooks vland 16, oneA at eachl endofthepin and integral therewith. These hooks pro- .vide (for the easyattachment of Vthe Itwo @brace kropes crjwires.17A and the tie rope orwire 18'.' The braces 17 preferably are'run down at an angle to theground and may be attached to stakes or to any other convenientfastening, and are pulled up tight so as to stretch the tie rope 18between the two sets of legs. IVhen the device is thus set up andbraced, in the manner shownl in Fig. 1, it is very stable and cannot bedis placed or over-turned.

The cot proper is provided with the usual flexible sheet 20 of canvas orany other suitable material; and the side edges of the sheet areattached to two longitudinal side poles 21. This attachment may beeffected in any suitable manner, for instance, theV sheet may beattached to the polesV by slid` ingthe poles through hems at the edgesof the sheet. The sheet and poles are put in a position shown in Fig. lwith poles ron the outside of the diagonally set legs 10. The angle 'atwhich the legs are set will of course, determine the height above theground at which the sheet will be held; and' also the angle of the legswill determine the proportional amount of stretching action on thesheet. For instance, if the legs are set up more acutely, the poles willhave more tendency to sli-de down the outside surfaces of the legs andtherefore have more tendency to tighten the sheet. An angle some- Ill.'

what as illustra-ted in Fig. l will be suitable for mostV purposes; andWhen any Weight is imposed upon the sheet, that sheet, tending to forcethe poles down, Will cause the poles sliding down on the legs, tostretch the sheet transversely just in proportion to the amount ofWeight that is imposed upon the sheet. Thus, for a heavier Weight, thesheet will be stretched more tightly. Also, if the Weight has anytendency to press the legs further into the ground, it Will have atendency to spread the legs Vfurther apart; thus again having a tendencyto stretch the sheet. The sheetfmay have a flap 22 at each end which maybe tied up loosely, as at 23, to the legs. rIhese flaps forni in effecthead and foot pieces for the cot; or the one at the head may be tied sothat it is somewhat elevated above the sheet to form an elevated supportfor the sleepers head.

Having described a preferred form of my invention, I claim l. A. deviceof the character described comprising tvvo pairs of legs hingedlyconnected together at their tops and adapted to be set on a supportingsurface with the legs of each pair at an angle to each other, atienieinber between the pairs of legs and braces for the legs, and a cotor like member comprising a exible horizontal sheet and tivolongitudinal side poles attached thereto and bearing on the outersurfaces of the angularly braced legs; so that a Weight on the sheettending to move the sheet and poles down tends to spread the poles apartand stretch the sheet; the hinge co1inection between the legs of eachpair coniprising hinge members and a hinge pin with a hook formed ateach end of the hinge pin, and the tie between the pairs of legs and thebraces being attached to said hooks.

2. In a device of the character described, comprising two pairs ofsockets hingedly connected at their upper ends and adapted to be foldedflat against each other and to be extended to angular positions withrelation to each other, the hinge connection embodying a hinge pin witha hook integrally formed atV each end, leg members slidable into saidsockets, `and the pairs of assembled legs and sockets being adapted tobe placed upon a supporting surface spaced from each other, the legs ofeach pair making an acute angle with each other, a tie member extendingbetween the tWo pairs and connected to tWo of said hooks, brace membersconnected to the other tWo hooks; and a cot or like device comprising aflexible horizontal sheet and tivo longitudinal side poles, the sidepoles resting on the outer surfaces of the angularly placed legs, sothat a Weight on the sheet tending to move the sheet and polesdownwardly along the legs tends to spread the poles apart and stretchthe sheet transversely.

In Witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my namethis 23rd day of April 1924.

MARVIN R. MARSTON.

